Joe Root dreams of defeating India by 5-0

By Shalini Singh

Image Credit @Reuters

Clean Sweep a dream for England skipper :

In the second Test match, England thrashed India by an innings and 159 runs in the second Test at Lord’s and skipper Joe Root has said that it is very important for England to not get complacent or arrogant while pursuing their dream of a 5-0 series win against India.

“It would be a dream to put in five complete performances and have five wins. But it is very important that we don’t get arrogant or complacent,” he added.

England took a lead of 2-0 and interestingly, the win came in just 170.3 overs against the number 1 ICC Test ranked team.

While talking at a post-match press conference, England skipper insisted that he did not want to look too far as that might mean putting unnecessary pressure on the team.

“If you get far ahead of yourself, this game has got a funny way of biting back,” said Root.

“We are playing against the world no.1 team in the world, with some very talented players by their side and we need to make sure that we keep looking forward to learning,” he added.

“We are not the finished article- we still have got a long way to go.”

Root on replacement of Stokes and inclusion of Stokes

The England skipper was also all praises for Chris Woakes who delivered a match-winning performance after coming in as a replacement for Stokes.

“Ben is obviously a very important part of the squad and we miss him not being here,” Root said.

“He created an opportunity to Woakes to come in and the way Woakes performed was truly remarkable.”

“Ben Stokes is an important part of our squad, it has been frustrating summer for him as he has been injured for a long part of it and it is still not certain if he will play the next match,” he said.